One Strange Summer
by WaterLily92
Summary: Ryou has to spend the summer holiday at his grandmotehr's again and he's expecting just another ordinary vacantion, but his strange new neighbours are not at the same opinion. Shounen - ai. Bakura x Ryou, and other
1. Chapter 1

It was summer again. Ryou just loved the summer holiday. First of all it was a holiday and second it was the longest one for the school year. The only bad thing about it was staying at his grandmother's house… The boy just hated old houses and all the strange noises were driving him crazy. Anyway all of his friends were going to be there so what was sleeping at the old creepy attic compared to all the fun time he was going to have.

Finally Ryou arrived in front of his grandmother's house. The trip took two long hours and he was exhausted. It was 5 o'clock and his parents said they were leaving the same day, so he was going to be able to see his friends the same day. 'Cool, I'll wait for them to leave and go out to see who's here!' Ryou thought to himself cheerfully…. Another two hours passed by and Ryou had already unpacked his things, his parents were leaving and he went to see them off. Now he was wondering the streets of the village, which were incredibly empty. Since he didn't find anyone of his friends, he decided to go to Malik's house and look for him there. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around immediately.  
"Ah, Malik! You scared me! Don't do that again…." Said Ryou trying to calm down.

"Ok, ok Ry! He he, you are so easy to scare "

"You better not repeat that, or I won't be alive the next time." said Ryou giggling.

"Ok, I won't…. You're no fun Ry. Let's go, all the others are waiting for us to play hide and seek. " Malik said going ahead, dragging Ryou by the hand.  
"But, Malik, it's going to be dark soon"

"Come on Ryou, don't be such a baby! Are you scared … Ha you're afraid of the dark aren't you"

"NO! I'm not…. Shut up and let's go…"

5 minutes later…

"Hi, Ryou, Malik are you ready to play" Yugi looked very eager to start the game already and so were the others. Rebecca, Tea, Joey, Tristan even Duke and Kaiba's little brother Mokuba were there.

"Ok, let's start then!" Said Mokuba excitedly.

"Ok…" Said Malik with a smirk "We'll hide and… Ryou will seek"

"But…"  
"No buts Ryou, come on now cover your eyes and count to 50 "  
"I'll kill you after this Malik" Ryou whispered to himself.  
"Everybody hide now! And remember that it's against the rules to hide inside gardens and shops!"

And so the game started. After few minutes Ryou was done counting and started searching. First he found Joey and Tristan behind one garbage can, Tea and Rebecca were behind a car down the street, Mokuba and Yugi were on a tree and Duke was behind the same tree, climbing trees wasn't one of his powers. It was getting dark and Malik was yet to be found. The other kids went home for dinner and so Ryou was left alone to find him. He decided to head back and try to find Malik on his way home.

Ryou was near his grandmother's house when he saw him staring at one of the two old houses across the street. The Egyptian boy saw him and motioned him to come closer.

"Malik, I thought you were playing with us. Why are you staring at this old house?"  
"Hadn't anyone told you?! You have new neighbors Ry. See there is a car parked infront of the house and up there, at the second floor, a light is turned on."  
"Yeah as I think of it…I've never seen this car before" Ryou said thoughtfully. "So have you seen them? How do they look like? Where do they come from?"  
"I don't know…" was the only thing Malik said never removing his gaze from the house.  
"What do you mean you don't know??" Said Ryou shocked.  
"I mean, I don't know…. No one has seen them ever since they moved, we only saw the car but never saw them, and the other kids are scared from the house so we never went in."  
"Well, we'll see them sooner or later" said the white haired boy and headed to his house.  
"So, why not sooner??" asked Malik excitedly and grabbed Ryou by the hand.

"No! Malik, I'm not going to break in some old house… and besides they're home now."

"Who said anything about breaking in… we'll just look through a window. Come on you chicken!"  
"I'm not a chicken" now he was angry "Ok… we're going! But this is the last time I listen to you and your stupid ideas" and Ryou pulled him by the hand through the garden door.

____________________________________________________

"So, here's the plan. You see this boxes here, I'll help you climb on them and you'll look inside through that little window up there" Malik said satisfied with the plan.

"And why again it has to be me climbing the boxes??" Ryou asked with frustrated voice.

"Because Ry, you're lighter than me…"

"Ok, ok …" and Ryou began climbing, Malik helping him and holding the boxes.

"So? What do you see?"

"Malik I think we should go now, I'll tell you everything on the way home" Said Ryou worriedly.

"Come on tell me!"

"I'll tell you just, lets get out of here!"

"Ok, but climb down fast I think I heard someone coming " And as he turned around he saw two dark figures approaching them. "Faster Ryou!" But the white haired boy lost his balance and fell down losing consciousness. The egyptian panicked and left the boy behind running as fast as he could, maybe he would be able to find help.


	2. Chapter 2

Ryou slowly woke up. He was in his room at his grandmother's house, but he couldn't remember how he got there. His head hurt like hell and the only thing he was able to remember about yesterday night was Malik, who wanted to spy on the new neighbors.

"I'm going to take a shower, see what's there for breakfast and then I'll find Malik and ask him about yesterday" Ryou said to himself and hurried downstairs. He was sure something strange had happen cause he'd never slept in his clothes before. He always changed before bed.

15 minutes later Ryou went in the living room and was immediately attacked by his grandmother.

"Ryou! You're awake! I'm so glad you're all right dear. Does your head hurt? Are you hungry? What happened yesterday?"

"W-what about yesterday?" Ryou asked surprised. He really didn't know what to say.

"Well, yesterday one of the new neighbors brought you home. He told me you were playing outside and you fell from a tree and hit your head, but he said you are going to be ok. I showed him the way to your room. What a kind man…he looked quite like you though, pale skin, white hair…so Ryou dear what do you want for…" she wasn't finished asking and Ryou was already gong towards the door.  
"I'm not hungry! Bye grandma! I'll be home for lunch." He shouted from the doorway and left the house.

"The kids these days are very strange…"

Ryou was standing outside Malik's house, ringing the bell eagerly. He knew Malik was probably still sleeping, but he wanted to know what had happened yesterday. Finally one of the second floor windows opened up and one really sleepy Malik glared at Ryou.  
"I hope you have an explanation about why you woke me up… the door is open come in … " and he closed the window without saying anything.

Malik's parents were at work and he was alone at the house so Ryou was glad he didn't wake them up. When he the reached the room, the egyptian boy was already dressed and completely awake.

"Malik, are you going to tell me what happened yesterday?" Ryou said calmly.

"You don't remember? You've hit your head really hard then." Malik said with a laugh. "But you're ok so…"  
"What do you mean I'm ok?? What happened??"

"I wanted to learn more about the new neighbors so we went to spy on the house and you fell from the boxes and lost consciousness. I ran for help but when I was down the street I saw someone bringing you towards your house so I thought you were all right and left. And you are all right. The only stupid thing is that you saw something from the window and you didn't tell me what it was so the whole job was worthless…" said Malik pissed and glared at Ryou.

"What?" the younger boy said with amusement. "But…but I don't remember anything…I only remember going with you and after that…. nothing" he said a little bit scared. "Something like this has never happened to me before."

"Maybe it's because you hit your head" Malik said, looking slightly worried himself.

"Yeah maybe…I have to go back now, it's almost 12 o'clock and I promised grandma I'll be there for lunch. Thanks for the talk and sorry for waking you up." And before Malik could say a thing the boy was already out of the house.

Ryou walked in and took off his shoes announcing his presence to his grandmother, washed his hands and went to his room to change his clothes. He was almost going to have a heart attack when he went in to the dining room. Sitting on the table were his grandmother and one boy not much older than him. He had dusty white hair, pale skin and dark brown eyes.  
"Oh, Ryou dear, you're home." Said his grandmother and went to hug him. "This is the man who brought you here yesterday."

"Nice to meet you Ryou. My name's Bakura." The deep still soft voice of the man before him rang through Ryou's ears sending shivers down his spine. "I'm here to ask for your help but lets have lunch first. Your grandmother is such a nice woman, she offered me to stay and I just wasn't able to deny her."

Ryou just stood there not able to say anything. Trying to stay calm. But he had so many questions. Maybe he'll be able to ask after the lunch.


	3. Chapter 3

Ryou finished his lunch and went to put his plate in the sink. When he went back to the dining room Bakura was also done eating.

"So, Ryou" Bakura spoke suddenly "I'm looking for one special book and heard you might have it. " As the boy looked directly into Bakura's eyes he could swear he saw them turn red just for a moment. Maybe he was imagining things; maybe it was because of the light in the room. He tried to forget about it and answered quietly, pretending nothing has happened.

"Well there's a good library for old books here in town." Ryou spoke quietly "So, I'm pretty sure you'll find what you're looking for there. "

"Don't speak like that young man! After all Bakura helped you! We owe him a lot." His grandmother told him "Now go and search through your bookshelves. If you don't find the book you'll direct the man to the library. Hurry up now and go! I have cleaning and cooking to do…." The woman said looking at her watch and starting to pick up the table.

"Ok grandma…" He said irritated. And Ryou walked out of the room followed by Bakura who was smirking secretly.

Ryou's room wasn't very big, but wasn't very small either. His mother and her brother used to live there when they were little. There were two single beds forming an "L" shape at one corner of the room. Facing the door and one of the beds was a desk with one chair and a window behind it. Opposite the other bed were one wardrobe and many bookshelves with lots of books on them. Ryou went to open the window and sat on its frame looking outside. Now his memory was clear. Through the little window yesterday he saw two figures with dark purple cloaks standing in front of one big cauldron with strange glowing substance in it. One of them must have been Bakura. But what were they doing? It looked like they were casting a spell or something, but that was ridiculous. "So, Bakura…I wanted to ask you something…" he said concerned. "What really happened yesterday night."

"Hm, hard to answer…" said Bakura, without looking away from the shelves. "…Lets say you and your friend were at the wrong place in the wrong time." And he continued the search for the special book.

"I remember what I saw now so you can stop fooling me around. This morning I wasn't able to remember a thing. But now I remember so …" Ryou stood up from his place at the window frame and walked towards Bakura. "Tell me who are you and what are you and the your friend doing in our town?!"  
Bakura slowly stood up from the spot on the ground he was currently sitting on and went closer to Ryou. The younger boy stepped back, but Bakura took another step closer and soon Ryou felt the wall behind him. With one snap of his fingers the taller boy closed the window and locked the door of Ryou's room. "I think you can answer your question yourself now. So? What's your guess?"

Ryou just couldn't believe it. He was so scared…. what was he going to do... He just didn't believe in magic. But this just a second ago...It was so real. So they were really casting a spell that night. Or whatever they were doing it was magic. The boy just couldn't believe it.

"Are you going to answer now Ryou" Bakura's voice rang through his ears, bringing him back from his thoughts.

"You are…" the boy swallowed nervously "a wizard?"

"Not a wizard…" said Bakura frustrated "…I'm a sorcerer! I didn't come from some funny children's book … " He was pissed. How many times did he have to go through with that again?

"You're kidding right?"  
Bakura leaned closer to Ryou and whispered in his ear "No, I'm not kidding. And guess what, now that you know about it, you're going to help us find what we're searching for and no it's not jus that book. You must not tell anyone about this! If you tell it to somebody, your friends, your family even to your precious friend Malik, be sure I'll find out. "

Ryou was in shock. He was afraid to move, to say anything, even to breathe. His thoughts were racing in his head. He didn't know what to do. 'How did Bakura know Malik's name' he thought scared something might happen to him.

"I know everything Ryou, and besides if I don't know something I'll find out about it sooner or later, and yes I can read your mind too so be careful what you're thinking." And again with a snap of his fingers Bakura vanished in thin air, leaving everything in the room like it was before. The window was opened and the door unlocked.

Ryou fell to his knees breathing heavily, a few tears falling from his eyes. What was he supposed to do? Just standing and waiting for orders? He hasn't even recovered from the shock when someone knocked on his door.

"Hey, Ryou are you there? It's me Malik. Your grandmother said you were here. " Ryou brushed the tears out of his eyes and went to open the door, trying to look as nothing had happened. "Hi Ryou. You're alone." Said Malik amused "I can swear heard you talking to someone."

"Who, me?? Talking to someone? There's no one in the room. So maybe you've heard me talking to myself. " Ryou was talking so fast that Malik wasn't able to understand what he was saying but he didn't try to either. "So, why are you here Malik? " Ryou asked curiously.

"Well my parents are leaving for two days so I was wondering, can I stay here. I don't like being alone at night in that house …"

"Who's the chicken now ha Malik?" said Ryou sticking his tongue out. "Just kidding," he said with a laugh. "You can stay if you don't set any fires in the house."

"Ok. I'm not going to set any fires in the house…"

"The backyard is off limits too!"

"Ok, ok I get it " the boy said giggling. "No fires at all."

Ryou was glad that Malik was going to stay. It made him feel safe somehow. The boys decided to go outside and find something interesting to do. As they were leaving the room Ryou saw one book missing from his bookshelves. Maybe it was the book Bakura was searching for and he'd taken it away.


	4. Chapter 4

At the sorcerers' house

As he came home Bakura saw Marik laying on the sofa and thought he was asleep so he passed by quietly trying not to wake him up. Suddenly one hand grabbed him from behind forcing him to sit on the sofa.

"Huh, Marik? I thought you were sleeping." Bakura said amused.

"Do I look like I'm sleeping to you??" Asked Marik irritated.

"Um, sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up. Will you let go of me now?"

"Not until you tell me something. "  
"What…" Bakura asked pissed. He just wanted to go to his room and to read the book he'd finally found after so much searching.

"Did you get the book?" The other boy asked, never loosening his grip.

"Yes. What do you think is this?" Bakura said getting really pissed and he pointed at the object he was holding. Marik smirked deviously. With one swift of his body he got up and took the book from Bakura. "Thanks a lot. I'm going to my room now." The tanned boy said and ran upstairs. Bakura followed him but he was too late. As soon as Marik walked in his room he locked the door behind him muffling Bakura's shouts.

"MARIK!" Bakura shouted outside the door, kicking it several times. "Open the damn door right now! I got the book myself and you did absolutely nothing to help me. Give that book right now! Do you hear me Marik??? Open the door!!"

"You know you can't do nothing from out there right? Keep screaming as much as you want." Marik said laughing and started looking at the book. It had black covers and a strange lock on it. Some unfamiliar hieroglyphics were written with silver on the back cover. After looking some more Marik understood they were going to need a special key for that lock and gave up trying to open it.

Bakura gave up screaming eventually too. He was now sitting on the floor in front of Marik's room resting his back against the door. It just wasn't fair … he was doing all the dirty work and Marik wasn't doing anything. Suddenly the door opened and Bakura fell back hitting his head on the floor. " Come one Dum-dum we're going to the basement again."

"What? Why?" Bakura asked getting up and rubbing the back of his head.

"Because you're stupid and you didn't saw there was a lock on the book. We can't open it like this." And Marik dragged Bakura along with him.

"If you want to know I saw the lock. But I didn't know where was the key either. So I decided to bring the book and try to open it here."

"Yeah, whatever… You can't open it. See this" and Marik pointed the strange lock "it's a magical lock. We need the key or we risk to destroy the whole book and we'll never find the artifacts we're looking for." The book was supposed to show the places of six ancient artifacts, which were able to give any sorcerer great magical powers. The boys went in the so-called "basement" and prepared their stuff for the spell. The room wasn't a basement at all; it was just a room on the first floor of the house. And because they were living on the second floor only Marik called it a basement.

"Do we have to do this now?" Bakura asked and looked at Marik "I'm very tired and you know that asking magical questions takes a lot of energy too, it's going to drain me completely…."  
"Yeah I know…" Marik said irritated "But we both know that this spell demands two people, so stop being a crybaby and help mi with this." Marik said and threw Bakura his cloak.

"Ok… So we're going to ask where is the key right? "

"Yes" Marik said and gave Bakura a candle. And both boys stood over the cauldron with the glowing substance and closed their eyes holding one lighten up candle in front of them. After a while the liquid in the cauldron started boiling and a picture started to form in its center. Bakura was feeling weak already. He wasn't as good sorcerer as Marik after all. He felt as he was going to collapse any second now. Hi saw the picture forming in the cauldron and immediately knew which was the place. A sudden wind blew through the room blowing out the candles and the picture disappeared. Bakura's legs finally gave out but Marik was fast enough to catch him and the boy collapsed in his arms. He brought him into his room and laid him on the bed carefully. It looked like they weren't going to search for the key that night, so he decided to go out and look around the town.


	5. Chapter 5

It was hot outside the other day. Not just hot it was nearly 35 degrees and not a simple cloud. The sky had a piercing blue color, so sharp that could make your eyes hurt if you stared too much. Ryou and Malik were currently resting in a park at the middle of the town. The boys were sitting on a bench under the thick shadow of one oak tree, two grocery bags next to them. Ryou's grandmother asked them to buy some things for her since Malik was going to stay she decided there wasn't enough food and sent the boys to help her.

"Duke is inviting us to a party this evening." Said Malik excited "So can we go? Please? We'll stay just for a little and we'll go home. I heard there was going to be some new kid. Yami. I heard he was a friend of Yugi; he was even staying with him for the holiday. So can we go? Um…Ryou, are you here? Are you even listening to me?" Malik said waving his hand in front of Ryou's face.

"Ah, I'm sorry Malik I was just thinking about something." Said Ryou apologetically. "So, what was that you were saying?"

"I was saying that Duke has invited us to his party tonight…and there is going to be some new kid…" and Malik noticed Ryou's mind was somewhere else again "And I'm going to dye my hair pink. What do you think about it?" He just knew Ryou wasn't listening at all. He's been spacing out all morning.

"Yeah Malik, I think it's going to be great." Ryou said without even knowing what he was agreeing with. Suddenly Malik started to laugh so hard that he couldn't breathe. "What? " Ryou said amused "What did I say??"

"You haha …" Malik was laughing so hard he wasn't able to speak "You just haha …you just told me haha…it's going to be great if I dyed my hair pink hahahha."

"Really" now Ryou was laughing too. "I take that back Malik" he managed to say between laughs, "I don't think pink is your color."

"So what about the party?"

"Well I guess we can go to check it out." The white-haired teen said hesitantly. Ryou wasn't much into parties. He'd prefer watching a movie at home or reading a book but drinking competitions … that wasn't his thing.

"Sweet! So let's go home already shall we? This heat is killing me." Malik said and got up taking one of the grocery bagss.

"Yeah sure…" And Ryou took the other one "… but I thought you liked summer heats, you've lived in Egypt for a long time right?"

"Yeah but I hated the heat there too " The Egyptian said with a laugh.

As soon as the boys got to the house, which unfortunately was at the highest street, they left the grocery bags on the table and sat in the dining room exhausted.

"Oh, thank you so much for your help" said Ryou's grandma, who appeared form the kitchen happier than ever. She really liked having guests … well not Malik to be exact but she had the good feeling there weren't going to be any fires this time. She took the bags from the table and disappeared again. "Who's up for grandma's special lunch sandwiches?" A few minutes later she was back again. The sandwiches looked delicious and were gone very soon. "There's some cold lemonade in the garden. You deserve it! Go now and have fun, be sure to come back for dinner. "

"No problem grandma! Thanks for the sandwiches and for the lemonade."

The boys went into the garden and sat on a blanket by the pond. It wasn't so hot when you were sitting under the shadows of the trees, drinking cold lemonade. It was nice actually.

"So Ry, are you going to tell me what are you thinking about so much. You've been spacing out all day. I know you're not telling me something… " Malik said a bit worried.

"I'm ok really, maybe it's just the heat…" He wasn't sure what to say, he just wanted to talk about something else, otherwise something bad could happen to Malik. And so the hours passed and the boys talked and played card games. It was getting dark and Ryou suggested that they go home for dinner.

They were just going out of the house and heading for Duke's place, which wasn't near at all, when it started to rain. It was expected. Ryou knew that was going to happen he was just hoping for it sooner. The rain was getting stronger and some wind came out too.

"Malik I don't think it's a good Idea to go to the party. I don't want to spend the rest of my summer ill. " Ryou said and looked at Malik who was half wet already.

"I feel strange saying this Ryou but I'm with you." And the boys went back into the house. Malik took some dry clothes from his things and started to change. "So Ryou what are we going to do? "

"Well it's already late and I feel a bit tired so lets play something and go to bed." Said Ryou yawning.

"Ok" said Malik and went downstairs to put his wet clothes to dry. But when he got back Ryou was already asleep. "Ok, so good night to you too Ry." And both boys fell asleep.

Suddenly Ryou woke up it the middle of the night. He heard footsteps. There was no way someone was in the house right? The door was locked. The boy sat in his bed; he heard the footsteps walking up the stairs to his room. "Malik" he whispered, "wake up!" Malik was still sleeping. The footsteps stopped. Ryou was just going to stand and wake Malik up when a hand grabbed him from behind covering his mouth.

"Hello Ryou, remember me? " The feeling of the warm breath on his neck made Ryou shiver. He tried to escape but with no luck. He recognized the voice immediately. It was Bakura. "Stop trying to escape now. You don't want to wake up Malik right? It's time for you to help me. Now when I release your mouth promise mi to be quiet. Ok?" Bakura said and Ryou nodded his head in agreement. Bakura smirked and released the boy's mouth. Before Ryou could do or say any thing he was pinned down on his bed, a pair of warm lips pressed on his own.


	6. Chapter 6

"Bakura what are you doing!?" Ryou said while trying to push him off. "Stop it! What do you want from me?"

"You know precisely what I want… " Bakura whispered into the boy's ear never letting go of his hands. "The key." He said and kissed him again moving one of his legs between Ryou's. "Give it to me and I'll stop …"

"I don't know what you're talking about … ah … Bakura stop." The boy said struggling even more. What key was Bakura talking about?! First some strange book then a key … a key for what?

"For the book Ryou, the key for the book. Just tell me where it is. And stop struggling already because you're going to wake up Malik and something bad is going to happen to both of you."

"But I really don't know what you are talking about." Ryou said a tear rolling down his face. "Why are you doing this…?"

"Believe me Ryou, I don't want to do this either… I really don't know why am I doing it at all anymore." What?? Why was he saying such things to this boy?? Bakura was confused. He'd never felt this way before. It was strange. All he wanted before was more power, but now… what did he want now? Somehow he liked being around Ryou and he didn't want anything bad to happen to him. But why was he feeling like this?? He released his grip on Ryou and sat next to him with his back resting on the wall behind him.

Now Ryou was confused. "Bakura?" Ryou said with concern and looked at the other boy.

"I don't want to do this anymore… I'm tired of this life and I don't know what I want any more. I don't even know why I'm telling you this. But I need to get the key till morning otherwise Marik will be very angry."

"Well, I'm not sure why, but I want to help you. So tell me how does that key look like maybe we can find it together? " And the white-haired boy sat up in his bed. Why was he offering his help again? He felt like he can trust Bakura, but that was so strange. Why on earth could he trust him, he knew absolutely nothing about him … only that he was a wizard … no, not a wizard, sorcerer… How could he trust him?

"Well I'm not sure how should it look like but the lock has a strange hexagonal form. I don't know what can fit in there and I've never seen a key with such form…" Ryou suddenly snapped.

"Did you just say hexagonal?"

"Yes I did why?" Bakura said curiously.

"Do you think maybe this would open it?" And Ryou removed the necklace from his neck. In his hand the boy was holding a perfect hexagonal crystal, not very big but not small either.

"Ryou! Where do you have this from?" Bakura asked amused and took the necklace from the boys' hands. "I think this is the key."

"I found it one day when we were walking in the forest with Malik."

"What?? You've been in the forest??" Bakura looked really worried now.

"Yes, but I'm ok. Why are you looking me like that?"

"I'm glad you're alive!"

"Why shouldn't I be? I mean there's nothing in that forest. Not even a wolf. It's a pretty normal forest."

"You don't even want to know what creatures may live in that forest. I've never seen a quiet forest. The things that live there… they're not human…they come out at night and search for food…"

"Bakura, don't talk like that! You're scaring me… " Ryou shivered.

"Yeah but it is true Ryou. I don't want anything bad to happen to you so do not go out alone at night and don't get near the forest. You hear me! I have to go now. Thanks for the help. See you some other time."

"Wait! Bakura! " But before Ryou could say anything Bakura was already gone.

Bakura unlocked the door of the house locking it again behind him. He quietly got to his room only to find Marik waiting for him. He was standing on the bed waiting in the dark, just like those creatures from the forest. Both Bakura and Marik could see perfectly fine in the dark so they rarely turned the lights on.

"Did you get it?" Marik asked irritated. He was tired of waiting.

"Yes. I think so…" and Bakura hold his hand out with the necklace in it.

"What do you mean you think so?" Marik stood up and took the item from Bakura's hand. He took the book and sat on the bed again. "It looks like it, so lets give it a try." The boy put the crystal in the lock and turned it six times. Suddenly the whole room shook from some kind of an earthquake wave and it become lighter than day. The light was coming from the book. It was so strong that it made the boys close their eyes. A few seconds later the light was gone and the book was left open on the bed.


	7. Chapter 7

Ryou was trying to fall asleep all night but he couldn't. He was sure he'd felt something minutes after Bakura'd left the room. It was like an earthquake wave went through the house and it was over as soon as it'd begun. He just knew something wasn't ok and after Bakura's talk about the monsters in the forest he wasn't able to sleep at all. The moon was shining in the night and some thin moon rays managed to make their way in. After some time staring at the ceiling Ryou got tired and was fast asleep.

A few hours later Ryou's grandmother waked the boys up. She was inviting them to try some of her special pancakes. Malik got up immediately at the word "pancakes".

"Morning Ry!" He said cheerfully. "What's up? You look like you haven't slept at all. " The boy said with worriedly.

"Ah, I couldn't sleep this night. Maybe it was because of the moon…"

"Hey Ryou!" Malik said looking at his _cell phone "Guess what! Duke had sent me a message. There's going to be a camp again like last summer. It was so much fun. We are definitely going right?"_

_ "A camp? Where is it going to be this year? I still remember the lake mosquitoes from last year. They were big enough to eat me alive! "_

_ "Haha. Don't worry Ry, this year the camp is gong to be in the forest near town." _

_ "What?" Ryou said a bit scared. "Did you say forest just now?"_

_ "Yes I did. What? Are you afraid?" Malik said teasingly._

_ "No, no I'm not … enough with that ok? I just think that it's not safe in the forest. That's all."_

_ "Not safe?" Malik said laughing, "whatever you say, we're going."_

_ Ryou had no choice at all. Malik was going and his options were staying at home and doing nothing or going to the camp and trying to prevent him from meeting any of the creatures Bakura'd mentioned before. If that was possible… And the camp was going to be only two nights, so maybe he would be able to keep Malik out of trouble for some time.  
_

_Later in the afternoon Malik has already prepared his backpack and was waiting for Ryou outside the house. "Ryou are you coming?" He shouted looking at the front door. "It's four o'clock, we're going to be late and the others will leave without us."_

_ "Ah, You go Malik. Tell the group I'll be there in 5 minutes ok?"_

_ "Ok."_

_Back in the house a certain someone was paying Ryou a visit.  
"Bakura?! What are you doing here?"_

_"Where are you going Ryou?" Bakura asked impatient for the answer._

_"I…I'm going out with my friends…" Ryou was looking at his feet. He was scared to look Bakura in the eyes. He just knew he was going to be very mad if he found out about the camp._

_"Ryou, look at me…" Bakura knew the boy wasn't telling the truth even without reading his mind. "I said look at me damn it!!" Bakura said irritated. "You're going in the forest right?"_

_"I just, there's going to be a camp and Malik is going and I really don't want anything bad to happen to him so…" Ryou spoke with quiet voice never taking his gaze away from the gray marble floor._

_"So it can't be helped right … Ok. You may go but promise me you will be very careful. And whatever you do, don't pass the river. Do you understand me? " _

_"I … ok I won't pass the river … but…" As the boy looked up Bakura was already nowhere to be seen. "I hate it when you vanish like that…" And he went out running for the meet up place._

_"Ah, hi guys! I'm so sorry I'm late." Ryou said panting. _

_"Don't worry Ryou." Yugi said smiling. "So we're all here! Let's go." And the group took off. Duke and _Joey were_ leading and Malik was talking to them about something. Behind them were Tea and_ Rebecca. And Ryou was walking at the back of the line followed by Yugi and one other boy. He looked a lot like Yugi though. But he was taller and he was wearing some kind of a strange medallion. It was in the shape of a pyramid and had a strange engraving at the front like and eye or something. Ryou was sure it was some kind of Egyptian symbol.

"So you must be Yami?" Ryou finally decided to speak "Nice to meet you. My name's Ryou."

"Nice to meet you Ryou. So you're here for the summer right?"  
"Ah, yes. I'm visiting my grandmother every year. And what about you Yami? I haven't seen you before in town."

"I'm staying at Yugi's place for this summer. "  
"I see you have a very interesting medallion. Is it Egyptian? "

"Yes, actually it is. It's a gift from my father and …" Yami looked at Yugi for a second "… and it's very valuable to me."

"I understand. " Ryou said nodding his head. He just knew they weren't telling him something.

"So Ryou, any ideas about the place the camp would be?" Yugi asked excitedly.

"What? You don't know? I mean they haven't told you?"

"No they haven't. So where are we going?" Yugi asked even more curious.

"We're going to spend two nights at the forest near town." Ryou wasn't happy he was saying that. He wasn't happy at all. In fact he was scared. And he was sure Malik was going to play tricks on him all night which wasn't helping him calm down.

"I don't like forests." Yugi said as his smile faded. Yami was looking quite worried himself. Actually his expression reminded Ryou of Bakura's expression when he told him about the forest.

After some more time the group reached it's destination. It was a little clearing not much deep in the forest. And after the tents were all set everyone brought some woods for the fire.

"It's not dark yet." Malik said and pulled Ryou by the hand. "Let's take a walk around."

"Ah, Malik I think we should stay here."

"Come on. I know you're scared but it's not even dark yet."

And Ryou was dragged deeper into the woods.

"You know maybe we should head back now. The sun will be setting soon. And besides I'm hungry… Aren't you hungry? "

"Ok, ok we're going back just stay here for a minute I'll be right back ok?" And Malik headed somewhere in the woods.

"What? Where are you going?" Ryou asked surprised.

"Nature's calling Ryou." Malik said laughing and disappeared behind some bushes.

_"Malik? What are you doing there? It's been 10 minutes now!" But there was no answer. All Ryou was able to hear were some birds. Suddenly something moved from in the bushes behind him. "Malik stop it!" The boy shouted turning around. "It's not funny Malik get out!" Ryou turned around again and saw Malik standing by his side. He was almost going to have a heart attack. _

_"Why are you shouting? I'm not doing anything." Malik said and giggled._

_"You… I've told you before! Do not sneak behind my back. Now let's go back to camp."_

_Meanwhile Marik and Bakura were arguing at home. The boys were sitting on Marik's bed reading the book._

_"Marik, the book says the firs artifact will be at the forest tomorrow." Bakura said calmly. _

_"What do you mean it's going to be at the forest tomorrow. Is it moving or something? That's ridiculous. "_

_"I don't know what's the exact meaning but it's all I can get out of this. And since the other pages are empty I think this book is writing itself on it's own."_

_"Ok whatever so we're going to that forest tomorrow."_

_"But…" Ryou and his friends were going to be there. _

_"No buts Bakura! Now go to your room and sleep. You have to be ready for tomorrow. I'm not sure what creatures may live in that forest." Marik got up and put the book away._

_"Stop it!" Bakura was pissed with Marik telling him what to do._

_"What?" The tanned boy said with amusement._

_"I've had it with you telling me what to do." Bakura said and headed to the door._

_"Is that so?" Marik said smirking and grabbed the white haired boy dragging him to the bed again._

_"Stop! Marik let me go!" _

_"No. I don't think so. You had the chance to obey me. You don't want to sleep is that so? Then I won't let you sleep. It's going to be a long night Bakura." _


	8. Chapter 8

"Wait here for a minute. I'll be right back" Said Marik with a smirk leaving the room and locking the door behind him. Bakura knew there was no possible way for him to escape the magical boundaries Marik had tied him to the bed with. Or maybe there was…

When Marik came back the room was empty. He wasn't expecting that at all. There was no way Bakura could have escaped. "So you escaped. You little… I taught you everything you know and now you're disobeying me?? " Marik was very angry, he went out of the room looking for the Black Magical book. He knew Bakura had used a spell to get out so his energy must have been drained and he would be an easy prey even with his magical powers. Marik looked around the living room his eyes spotting the book. He took it and read through the first page. It hadn't changed. So the first artifact was going to be in the forest tomorrow night. "I bet you'll be looking for it too. We'll meet soon."

Back in the forest Malik and Ryou were going back to camp. Suddenly they saw a bright light from behind them and turned around. At first they couldn't see anything but when the light begun to disappear Ryou gasped "Bakura!"

"Who?" Malik said looking a bit confused. He followed Ryou who ran to the boy, which he'd called Bakura. The boy was standing on his knees, his body shivering rapidly with his hands on the ground for support. Malik wasn't able to see his face, but he recognized him by the hair. That was one of the new neighbors, the one that had brought Ryou home the other night.

"Bakura, are you alright? What happened?" Ryou looked really worried.

"I'll be ok. I just need some water." He said, still trembling a little and tried to stand up while both Ryou and Malik were supporting him. "We have to go back to your camp or whatever you call it and prepare for tomorrow night. "

"Prepare? For what?" Malik said looking at Ryou who shrugged his shoulders.

"Marik." The answer was simple. "Marik is searching for the millennium artifacts and the book said the first one will be here tomorrow night."  
"Did Marik do that to you." Ryou asked quietly.

"He didn't do anything because I managed to escape on time, but the teleporting spell I used to get out of the magical chains drained all of my energy."

"So it's good I remembered to bring an extra tent right? A, here's the camp. Nice someone prepared food already." Malik looked overexcited about the fact.

"Hi Ryou" Tea said cheerfully "Who is your friend?"  
"Well Tea, that's Bakura and I'd like him to meet the others so can you call them out please?"

Tea did as Ryou asked her to and soon the crowd was standing around the campfire and they were peacefully eating their dinner. A few minutes later Yami joined the gang too. He sat next to Yugi and said hi to the new guy. "Oh Bakura that's Yami by the way." Ryou said looking at the tall boy before him.

"Nice to meet you Yami." Bakura spoke steadily "I see the first artifact my former partner is looking for belongs to you."

"What is he talking about Ryou" Yugi said and looked at the white-haired boy confused.

"I'm talking about the thing that's hanging around your friend's neck. Ok so in that case things change. Ok everyone what I'm going to tell you is going to sound crazy, but is true and if you want to live you have to obey my orders." Bakura looked around and saw many strange looks. "I'm a sorcerer. There are others like me and now the top priority in our world is collecting the millennium artifacts. They give us magical powers. Tomorrow we pick all the things up and you all have to go back the only ones who have to stay are Ryou, Malik, and Yami. Marik knows you and if you go back now you'll be easy to catch even to kill. Marik's going to be ready for everything but we can use the forest as our weapon. Do you understand?" Bakura said looking extremely serious.

"I'm staying with Yami." Yugi said holding Yami's hand.

"How can we know you're telling us the truth?" Duke asked crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"You just have to trust me. Now am I clear." Everyone nodded. "It's too dark already we have to go into the tents every two hours one of us is going to put woods in the fire. As long as it keeps burning it's going to keep unwanted visitors away." And so everyone went into their tents. There were 5 tents – Tea and Rebecca's, _Duke and _Joey's, Yami and Yugi's, Malik and Ryou's and Bakura was alone in a tent.

At the tent Malik and Ryou were arguing. "How could you keep that a secret from me Ryou??" Malik was very disappointed and wasn't listening to Ryou at all.

"But Malik, he said that if I told you, something bad would happen to you." Ryou said and stood up.

"Ok. I guess you're right. Hay? Where are you going?"

"I'll bring Bakura some water and be right back."

"Great now he leaves me alone." Malik said annoyed and looked up at the tent's top. The flashlight was making strange shapes around him. The boy closed her eyes and listened to the wind and the birds somewhere in the forest. Suddenly everything went quiet and Malik thought he was hearing a voice calling him. It was a deep yet soft voice "Malik" it whispered "Malik, Malik…" Malik sat up fast. As soon as he was up the voice was goon and the song of the wind and the birds could be heard again. Was that voice real? Or was it just Malik's imagination.


	9. Chapter 9

I'm really sorry for the late late update... I'm not going to explain myself any longer so here's the story. Hope you like it.

On the other morning all the people were gathering their things and soon the camp was looking some kind of empty. Bakura wanted to make a special barrier circle around the tents so Marik wouldn't be able to enter. He said he was going to search for something in the forest and Malik wanted to go with him. The egyptian hated staying at one place for too long he needed to go for a walk and no one was going to let him wander around alone. Yami, Yugi and Ryou stayed at the camp.

Malik liked the forest. The weather was nice and sunny but it wasn't hot. Little streams of light were passing through and were making beautiful shapes on the ground. Bakura was walking down a path, looking here and there for something. Malik felt strange about the silence and decided to make a conversation. "So, Bakura…you know Ryou, right? " Malik asked.

"No I don't, I met him when we came here." Bakura said and continued with his work.

"Aha…" and there was silence again "… if you do something bad to him you're going see my bad side you know…"

Bakura just laughed and continued with his work again.

"Don't laugh at me!" Malik said irritated.

"Ok, don't worry. I won't do anything bad to him. We'll be going back now." And they headed back to the camp. On their way back, a brilliant idea formed into Bakura's mind. When they arrived he decided to announce it in front of the others. "On the way back I thought of something …" he started "…maybe we don't have to fight Marik, it's going to be much easier if we try to trap him inside the magic book."

"Can you do that?" Ryou asked amused.

"I can try, but if it doesn't work I'll have to fight with him."

"Well it doesn't hurt to try…" Yami started "but where is that book you're talking about."

"That's the problem. It's at the house. "

"I'll go to take it just tell me where it is." Malik said without any hesitations.

"You can't go Malik…" Ryou began but his friend soon interrupted him.

"No, I'll do it. I'm the one for this job. I've been in the house when no one was living there, Yami and Yugi don't even know where it is, Bakura has to stay here to wait for Marik and I'm simply not letting you go… "

"Ok. Malik is going to get the book." Bakura said and got up from where he was sitting. He told Malik what he had to do and gave him something like a bracelet that should cover his presence from Marik. And Malik left the camp.

Soon he was standing in the backyard of the house thinking of a way to get in. Suddenly he heard the front door of the house open and he saw Marik walking out. The boy waited a little and went in through the front door. He was skilled in breaking into houses (His house actually when his parents locked him out sometimes XD) Then he went to the second floor and started searching for the book.

At that time in the forest Marik was already watching the camp. Ryou was currently sitting on the ground and watching the fire. Suddenly he got up and went to sit next to Yami. "Yami" Ryo said, "Can I see your puzzle?"

Yami nodded and began to remove the item from around his neck. But Bakura stopped him. "No, wait a little" Bakura looked at Ryou "Ryou are you ok?" Ryou didn't respond his look was completely empty. He just asked again. "Can I see your puzzle?"  
"Give it to him Yami" Bakura said and released Yami's hand. He knew Marik was controlling Ryou because he needed someone to bring him the item.

"I don't think this is a good idea" Yugi said worried. As soon as the puzzle reached Ryou's hands he stood up and started to walk slowly to the edge of the protective circle barrier. Yami saw Marik standing outside the circle waiting for Ryou and tried to stop the boy but Bakura didn't let him. "Bakura how can you let him go?" Yami asked. "Don't worry." Right on time Malik was back. When he found what he was searching for he ran back as fast as he could. Bakura took the book from his hands and opened it.

"You know that the book will not be able to help you right Bakura?" Marik asked and laughed. Bakura didn't answer. Ryou was a few steps before the edge of the circle. Malik just stood there trying to catch his breath. "Ryou! NO!" He tried to stand up but he couldn't.  
"I'll take this. And all the other items afterwards. Thank you very much." And he took the item from Ryou. "You know something Bakura? You were never a good student." Marik said and laughed again. Bakura didn't answer. He kept o searching for something in the book.  
"Found it!" He sad suddenly "You know Marik sometimes the students become better than their teachers." And he placed his palm on the book's page saying some strange magic words. There was some light coming from the book at first and then the whole forest was so bright nothing could be seen. After that everything went dark.


	10. Chapter 10

Hi! Sorry for my laziness again. Here's the end of the story.  
Hope you like it! XD

"Ryou! Wake up!" Malik shouted for the third time this morning.

The boy sat up in his bed looking around and trying to figure out where he was. Finally he answered. "What? What is it Malik?"  
"Oh! So you're awake already! I had the strangest dream ever! You and Bakura were there and he was some kind of a sorcerer. And…"  
"What are you talking about Malik?" Ryou said laughing. "Maybe you ate too much ice cream last night." Ryou was a bit worried because he had exactly the same dream but it was so real that he couldn't believe it was a dream.  
"Ha ha … maybe you're right it sounds really crazy!" Malik stood up and began picking his things up. "Anyway it's already 11 o'clock and I promised my mom I'll clean the house before she gets home so bye now! See you later." And he left the room.  
"Yeah… bye Malik." Ryou answered and began thinking about the dream again.

Later that day he was helping his grandmother in the kitchen when she asked him a favor. "Ryou, dear, will you please bring some cookies to the new neighbors? They moved in this morning in the house next to Bakura's."  
"Yeah I'll bring them some right away grandma." New neighbors? Strange first Bakura and Marik moved in the one empty house now someone was moving in the other one… After a few minutes Ryou was standing in front of the new neighbor's door. He rang the bell. Almost immediately one tall girl with long dark hair opened.  
"Hello." Ryou said, "My name's Ryou and I live across the street. My grandmother is sending you some cookies as a welcoming gift. I hope you like them." And he gave her the box with the cookies.  
"Thank you very much my name is …" She began but was interrupted by a male voice. "Who is it Isis?"  
And as the owner of the voice came to view Ryou nearly jumped out of his skin. "You! Marik?" But that wasn't possible!

"Hello. Do we know each other? " The boy asked.  
"A maybe … no. Sorry. Have a nice day. Hope you like the cookies. " And Ryou ran off.  
As he was walking down the street he bumped into Bakura. "Bakura! We have to talk!"  
"Ok… what do we have to talk about?"  
"About the strange dream I had, about you being a sorcerer, about the book and Marik and … I think you know what I'm talking about. That wasn't a dream was it?"  
"I know. It wasn't a dream. Now calm down. I defeated Marik and the book is gone as well as him." Bakura answered calmly "And you and Malik are the only people who seem to remember something. I already spoke with Yami ad Yugi and the don't recall anything."  
"But Marik isn't gone." Ryou said worriedly "He' and a girl who I think is his sister moved in the house next to yours this morning. My grandmother sent me to give them some of her cookies and when I saw Marik I was stunned, but it looks like he doesn't remember me at all. "  
"Well, that's a bit strange, but if he doesn't remember you so he doesn't remember me either and the doesn't remember anything about the magic stuff. Come on lets go to you house and have some cookies." Bakura said and they headed towards the house.

The two boys were sitting in Ryou's room and were eating some cookies. "So Bakura everything is going to be ok from now on right?"  
"You worry too much! Come here." Bakura said and pushed Ryou down on the bed kissing him passionately.

The End

Now set your imagination on "powerful" and imagine what happens next! XD Have a nice day. ^^


End file.
